Jams you can make at home

Turn fresh, delicious fruit into something you can savour all winter long

Saskatoon Jam: It’s the perfect time of the year to think about putting those berries to work.
Photo courtesy ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen.

Photograph by: ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen
, Postmedia News

If you’ve got a garden with strawberries, rhubarb and raspberry bushes, you’ve got a cheap and plentiful source of fresh produce to turn into jams at home.

If you don’t have a green thumb, or if you live in a home without a garden, don’t worry. This is also a great time of year to keep an eye out for deals in supermarket flyers, where sales on large quantities of fruit are commonplace. While many households would have trouble using several pounds of strawberries or blueberries before they go bad, these sale-priced mega-packages are perfect for making jam or pies.

Farmers’ markets are also a great source of local and regional fruit in the summer months, with plentiful B.C. cherries and ripe stone fruit.

To get you started in your jam and jelly making for the year, here are five of our tested recipes. If you need more ideas, the searchable recipe database on our website is a great place to start.

This simple recipe provides a perfect way to use up your summer blueberries. Fresh or thawed frozen blueberries can be used.

3 cups (750 mL) fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed

1 1/2 cups (375 mL) sugar

1/4 cup (50 mL) fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp (2 mL) grated lemon peel

1/2 tsp (2 mL) butter

Place blueberries in a large microwave-safe bowl and lightly crush using a potato masher. Stir in sugar, lemon juice, lemon peel and butter. Microwave on high for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes, until mixture is thick and translucent; cool. Spoon jam into a sterilized container. Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. Makes 2 cups (500 mL).

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